You generally won't die, lose a tooth, have a concussion, or suffer major brain damage playing tennis, so I would say it is not the cruelest. Slumps are part of sports in general, though the specific psychological effects of tennis matches are unique.

Winston plum ur dead right.. I always play with a guy in our tennis courts.. We played 8 times.. Lost all.. had match points on 2 occasions.. And that feeling which comes to ur mind.. Am I really defeating him ? I lost it right there

As anyone knows who has played tennis for long enough, it's hard to get over humps against certain players. We've all been there. Just keep going and get it done next time, I guess.

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This was an utter capitulation that will be very hard to ever recover from. Nico had never been as completely in control of any of the other 12 losses to Ferrer. He'll be a deer in the headlights from now on in their "rivalry".

I left to go play tennis right after Almagro won the first two sets, 6-4, 6-4. Before I left, I told my sig. other - "Don't worry, Ferrer will come back and win this match." And when I came back and checked the score, sure enough, Ferrer won the match in 5 sets. Ferrer was 12-0 against Almagro. I knew there was no way that he was going to allow Almagro to beat him. Ferrer is a beast! Too bad I didn't place a bet on Ferrer to win right after the 2nd set. I'm sure I would have gotten pretty good odds.

I left to go play tennis right after Almagro won the first two sets, 6-4, 6-4. Before I left, I told my sig. other - "Don't worry, Ferrer will come back and win this match." And when I came back and checked the score, sure enough, Ferrer won the match in 5 sets. Ferrer was 12-0 against Almagro. I knew there was no way that he was going to allow Almagro to beat him. Ferrer is a beast! Too bad I didn't place a bet on Ferrer to win right after the 2nd set. I'm sure I would have gotten pretty good odds.

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The only "beast" present on that court resided between Nico's ears. Ferrer did not beat Almagro as much as Nico beat himself.

The only "beast" present on that court resided between Nico's ears. Ferrer did not beat Almagro as much as Nico beat himself.

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It is a bit of both, Nico doesn't really believe and Ferrer would not give up.
The match-up is not good for Almagro but he has to get over it & accept it.
That belief is hard to find but he can learn from this loss.
He will still get paid for this & he can have another go at the French!
There are worse things in life...

The Davis Cup final loss to Stepanek in the last match and now this heartbreaking defeat to Ferrer...this could be the end of Nico.

Ferrer wanted it more in the crunch, Almagro needed to raise the adrenaline ante and show more hunger passion and desire, he was emotionally flat when it mattered most. Ferrer turned into a wall and did not miss any of the key points in set 3 and 4. Pure torture for poor Almagro.

The Davis Cup final loss to Stepanek in the last match and now this heartbreaking defeat to Ferrer...this could be the end of Nico.

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I don't think so.

He's working with Juan Carlos Ferrero now, but they just started, and it's going to be hard to overcome anybody who holds a 12-0 record against you.
If he'd run into anyone else - Tsonga, Murray - the result might have been different.

And isn't the quarters the furthest he's ever gotten in the AO?

Nico will be back. And soon too -- he's playing the Golden Swing and is the defending champion at one of those tournaments.

I just couldn't believe it....
This reminds me of Wawrinka's match....
He had multiple oppurtunities to beat Ferrer, but he didn't believe that he could...
He he would've won that match, I don't think that Djokovic would grind him as well. If he would've beaten him, Federer/Murray/Tsonga just would've exposed his weaknesses..

He's working with Juan Carlos Ferrero now, but they just started, and it's going to be hard to overcome anybody who holds a 12-0 record against you.
If he'd run into anyone else - Tsonga, Murray - the result might have been different.

And isn't the quarters the furthest he's ever gotten in the AO?

Nico will be back. And soon too -- he's playing the Golden Swing and is the defending champion at one of those tournaments.

Even after Almagro won the first two sets easily, I knew that he would choke and lose in 5 sets. The guy just can't get over the mental block of actually beating Ferrer, whom he's never beaten in 12 tries.

This was an utter capitulation that will be very hard to ever recover from. Nico had never been as completely in control of any of the other 12 losses to Ferrer. He'll be a deer in the headlights from now on in their "rivalry".

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With all due respect, I don't believe that was utter capitulation in the slightest. If fact, I don't even really think "choking" exists is tennis. Choking is for golf, or bowling, when you there are only inanimate objects you are contending with--balls, pins, grass, gutters, sandtraps. When there is someone on the other side of the court still giving 110% to make your life miserable and take that win away from you, it can't all be put on Nico or Stosur. In Stosur's case, the Chinese woman's game actually rose to its highest point in the match when she got down 5-2. Stosur kept competing, but Zheng's was playing free and easy.

Nico's swing tempo just went to shi* every time he served for the match. And he couldn't get a first serve in. He was thinking too much. He probably needs a sports psychologist to learn how to play the same way when he's about the win as when he's in the middle of a match. Don't we all to some extent. Did Roger capitulate over two US Open's to Nole, holding a total of four match points? No, he competed, it's just that Nole made him hit the same incredible shots that Fed had to hit earlier in the match to win points, and at that point, with the match on the line, Fed couldn't do it.

Goes to show tennis is a mental game. Almagro had like what, 6 match points or something? I turned the TV off when Ferrer won the 3rd set. It sucks because Almagro has so much potential to beat the top players and his backhand is the sweetest. Between Stan's and Nico's I'm not sure which is the best to look at.

^^^serving 3x for the match, losing the TB in set 4 and disappearing in set 5 was a lot larger version of "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory" than either of Fed's failures. Everyone remembers the first MP of the '11 SF...all-time clutch ROS by Djok. How about the 2nd MP? A framed return off a jammer serve that Fed stepped up and nailed an almost-perfect approach...except it hit the netcord and bounced out! A game of millimeters we play, no? After that, I think Fed began replaying USO'10 in his head instead of FO'11. A shame it worked out that way...he had played nearly flawless tennis in set 5 to lead up to those MPs, after squandering the two-set lead.

Had Nico ever beaten Ferrer in a previous tight match, he probably would have gotten one of those holds or won the TB. After those four failures, he was toast and gift-wrapped set 5.

No, I take full credit for the jinx...I picked him in both the TPL and PPL leagues. I also went dyslexic on his name in the thread title I composed. Blame not the Talk Tennis Guru, his Holiness Sentinel. Instead, strip me of my flimsy Hall of Fame status. I am not deserving but I would test clean on any PED (Poast Enhancing Drugs) test.

You generally won't die, lose a tooth, have a concussion, or suffer major brain damage playing tennis, so I would say it is not the cruelest. Slumps are part of sports in general, though the specific psychological effects of tennis matches are unique.